Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. C Wayne Reports o of Hess Flight to England I Fill News Columns an and Radio Lanes Res' Res I Convoys Plus us Strikes Plus us Priorities I I al Headaches in Defense Program EDITORS EDITOR'S NOTE when NOTE When h opinions I 1 are e expressed In n the columns they i eD Nt are those I of f the news analyst and not t necessarily tI of or this newspaper r Released by Western Newspaper Union I I BOMBSHELL BOl H Human Variety The Rudolf Hess incident was the dropping of a bombshell into the moors of Scotland which went up with a louder explosion than any of the tons of TNT that Hitler's aviators had yet sent across the channel Imaginations ran riot the riot the house of commons was in a dither more dither more than 20 basic theories were advanced advanced advanced ad ad- to explain why Hess fled Germany in an airplane and dropped to earth in a parachute and with the interweaving and variations variations variations vari vari- of these one had several thousand stories to choose from To list the British theories and those of neutrals would be futile because because because be be- cause they were not only limited by bythe bythe bythe the imaginations of their creators To list the German explanations also would be futile because they obviously were the outbursts outbursts outbursts out out- bursts of a government whose nose was temporarily out of joint Outside of this all was speculation specula specula- tion all was guesswork but the guessers most of them being paid at atso atso atso so much a word let themselves go and endless columns were printed Yet the story was not being overplayed over played played most most thinking newspaper newspapermen men being at a loss for earlier comI comparisons comparisons com com- I in journalistic history which one must recall doesn't go far back when history is considered But outside of the type of story that history presented in the Middle Ages and during the days of Caesar and Hannibal and Anthony and Cleopatra and Cassius and Brutus and Helen of Troy Hess' Hess flight was unique Most newspaper commentators were willing to call it the biggest story in centuries and let it go at that They wagged their heads and said What if Cordell Hull were to fly to Germany or what if it had been the other way over the channel channel chan chan- nel and Anthony Eden had made the trip This was enough to settle the point as to the magnitude of the news to their own satisfaction anyway Basic explanation of the Hess in incident incident incident in- in on the standpoint of logic y r s f r a u uy y 1 L LA A RUDOLF HESS HESSA A louder explosion than bombs brought personal considerations and personal safety to the fore It was pointed out a. a Hess had evidently wanted to escape Germany for some reason for he was practically under a detainment detainment detainment de- de sentence by Hitler's having having having hav hav- ing grounded him b. b If his reason for escape was sound then to pick out a spot where I he would be utterly safe from retribution retribution f England was the one and only spot in the world c. c If personal safety was his motive motive motive mo mo- tive then an inescapable parallel was that something must have been wrong with the unity of the Nazi party of which he was No 3 fuehrer This was enough explanation for British serenity over the incident also for German perturbation It was significant that most German dispatches covered these three points P Point int No 1 was covered when Hitler announced Hess was crazy and had been detained for his own safety No 2 that he should select England Germans explained by saying saying saying say say- ing that the nature of his insanity was that he believed that he single- single handed could bring about peace Point No 3 was handled by a straight-out straight denial that anything was wa wrong with the Nazi party Hess was a good Nazi but crazy Painted Tainted Toenails' Toenails Whether crazy or not when they took off his shoe and sock to attend to his fractured ankle he was found to have painted toenails hardly the thc American idea for hard-boiled hard Nazi leaders leader's personal decorations Everyone who ever had any contact contact contact con con- tact with Hess told his paragraph r two from the palmist who said ic le was superstitious to the newspaper newspaper news news- paper aper commentator who took five minutes coast to coast to tell how howie howze ie ze had seen Hess go skiing two years rears ago PRIORITIES And OPil A new difficulty in the U. U S S. S handling handling handling han han- of defense work loomed when William S. S Knudsen motor official and head of seemed to take as a personal issue the question of taking priorities out of his hands and giving them to a special organization organization organization answerable only to the army and navy chiefs Knudsen was quoted as saying that he would quit if the plan went through Thus the question of priorities lifted lifted lifted lift lift- ed its h ad as a vital defense issue further complicating the picture Priorities were becoming a very real issue in business also many manufacturers finding that this one question might easily keep them from success or failure in carrying out contracts The right to a priority priority priority prior prior- ity of delivery of machine tools might alone answer an entire question question question ques ques- tion of manufacture Knudsen took the attitude that if the work of production manage- manage m fF j A Ar r f fa fir 3 r a I jr WILLIAM S. S KNUDSEN lIe He forced an issue ment was his that to remove from his hands a vital tool like the right to decide questions of priorities would be to make his task impossible impossible impossible sible and to rob him of his prime prerogative It seemed likely that unless this question was ironed out swiftly to the liking of the Danish-born Danish production production production pro pro- expert the government might be looking for a new man STRIKES Up Grade Up-Grade Grade Again The labor trouble tempo in the United States defense industry was wason wason wason on the upward curve again with a order for Browning machine machine ma ma- chine guns held up at the Colt factory factory factory fac fac- tory at Hartford Conn and other old labor difficulties threatening to break out anew including the coal strike Always rearing its head was the threatened General Motors strike which would if it occurred affect millions of dollars in defense work and about employees and John L L. L Lewis said that if the coal contract with southern operators was not forthcoming soon he would call the coal miners out again This brought the strike news back onto the thc front pages with a bang and Representative Thomas of New Jersey a Republican called for a roundup of Communists in labor groups and to order them all aU arrested arrest arrest- ed on treason charges This was the most drastic step suggested thus far SHIPS Britain Bound President Roosevelt assured the the nation that the administrations administration's objective objective objective ob ob- ob- ob of tons of merchant shipping for Britain would be realized realized realized real real- by mid This assurance carried with it the important promise that the bill biB permitting permitting permitting per per- the President to take possession possession possession pos pos- I session of foreign vessels idle in I I American ports was in the category I of sure things The senate and house engaged ina in ina a desultory effort to write into the bill amendments cl chief ef among which was the Tobey amendment forbidding forbidding forbidding forbid forbid- ding the use of convoys The whole convoy issue as indeed all other news of the war on this side of the water took a back seat during the news ascendancy of Rudolf Rudolf Rudolf Ru Ru- dolf Hess but the issue was there ready to rip itself out into the open at an appropriate moment and to become the central point of a whole congressional debate on the Presidents President's Presidents President's Presidents President's dents dent's general foreign policy The tons of ships for Britain Britain Britain Brit Brit- ain within a month came as the Nazis were claiming tons I of British ships sunk by U-boats U since the start of the war and with I the British while admitting losses of at least half that amount generally generally generally gen gen- showing the pinch sharply Further drastic reductions in the meat ration and little is as dear to the as his beloved beef and mutton were announced and the general trend of commons debate debate debate de de- de- de bate indicated that Britain was feeling feeling feeling feel feel- ing the ship pinch tremendously |